Fate of Horace Williams Airport to be decided soonFate of Horace Williams Airport to be decided soon

June 24, 2005

Fate of Horace Williams Airport to be decided soon

AOPA is urging its nearly 10,000 North Carolina members to call their state representatives immediately in an effort to keep Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill from closing. The state legislature has two competing provisions affecting the future of the airport included in the state budget - a House version that will require the University of North Carolina to operate Horace Williams Airport until at least next summer, and a Senate version that will allow the university to close the airport almost immediately. Members of the North Carolina General Assembly will be meeting over the next four days to come to a budget agreement. Just last week, AOPA worked successfully with North Carolina House leaders to amend their version of the budget to keep Horace Williams open. "The House of Representatives' action keeps us in the game, but Horace Williams remains in danger of being closed, perhaps immediately," warned Roger Cohen, AOPA's vice president of regional affairs. AOPA members outside North Carolina who use the airport should contact House Speaker Jim Black and Senate Pro Tem Marc Basnight. For more information, see AOPA Online.